hey everyone, just thought I would share this link with you all...

I have had some of these pulleys on my cars for several years with great results and there are now some stuff for the Scion tC available...

NST, www.NonStopTuning.com


-Quoted from NST-

Crank pulleys, attached to the outside of the crankshaft, are the source of power for a car's accessories. The alternator, power steering, water pump, and air conditioner are all belt driven units, attached to the crank pulley, that use horsepower from an engine to provide their own services. Underdrive pulley systems increase an engine's horsepower by reducing the power required to drive the external engine accessories. By replacing factory pulleys with carefully resized units, the accessories are slowed enough so that their performance does not suffer, but just enough so that more horsepower is sent to the wheels and put to the ground. Where horsepower should be!

Another great benefit in replacing factory pulleys with underdrive units is reduced weight. Factory units, also referred to as OEM, are generally constructed from steel or cast iron. Pulley systems like those found at NonStopTuning are constructed of aircraft quality aluminum, making them extremely durable while at the same time much lighter than their steel counterparts. This increased weight reduction results in less rotating mass on the engine's crankshaft which drastically increases the engine's ability to rev up to speed faster. Better throttle response = big grin on a driver's face!

Hope this is useful info for some fellow scion tuners

 

very nice for $99, not available until June 15th though. I think I'll be getting it.

 

Looking for more power mods and to free up untaped horse power, I have this thread marked to watch.

 

wow thats going even further with the engine....

dont they cause engine failure?

 

good find. will this pully reduce the alternator output?

 

If you're not kidding (I never can tell around here) then the answer is "no". I have heard of cases where installing an underdrive pulley has caused problems, but the problems were either with the engines to begin with (and the underdrive pulley just added to it) or the pulleys were manufactured incorrectly.

99% of the time, an underdrive pulley is a safe and easy addition to an engine. Unless it is a stock size aluminum replacement pulley (which technically wouldn't be an underdrive pulley) then it will spin the alternator, A/C compressor, water pump and power steering pump a little slower, but it shouldn't make a difference if all those things are functioning properly to begin with. Also, the main gain from the pulley is due to it being lighter than stock, and not because it spins everything slower.

 

Underdrive pulleys do spin the accessories at a slower rate, so theoretically the alternator output would be reduced. The reduction however, will not be so dramatic that there will be any noticeable loss in power output from the alternator or any other accessory. Sometimes people with VERY high output audio or video systems go with bigger alternators. Another option would be to swap a different pulley for the alternator to make it spin faster, but again this is not necessary unless very very high levels of watts are being run.

As far as pulleys damaging rotating assemblies in the engine block, in my opinion this is an age-old, but very highly spread myth! People who support the theory do make very good theoretical arguments, but I have never seen anyone that I know of, having problems as a result of a crank pulley. I have had crank pulleys on two different toyotas for at least 50,000 miles with no ill effects. I have also seen several friends of mine run these NST units on their 240SXs, MR2s, and Civics.

 

I've heard lighter pullies can cause a rougher idle, is there any truth behind that?

and my AC is underpowered as it is, don't want to add fuel to the fire. Whenever I turn on my AC I can feel the car shaking at idle more than it was before because of the added strain on the engine.

 

nice find, i think i will order one, not bad at all for 99.00

 

Well, you'll actually have slightly less drain on your engine, so it might not shake as much at idle (or it might have no noticable difference.) It definitely won't make it shake more. The problem with the A/C isn't that the compressor doesn't spin fast enough, it's probably that the system is rather small and takes a while to cool the car down. I really don't see any downside to the underdrive pulley.

Also, if you worry about the accessories not spinning fast enough, consider how much of your driving is done above idle. Overall, the pulley shouldn't harm anything by spinning those things slightly slower taht small portion of your total driving time.

 

not to get off topic, but i was wondering if the Prius' A/C compressor would mount up...it's not belt driven, all internal electric...

i think i'd want to see dyno sheets with these pullies first before buying

 

Theres been plenty of proof with just about all cars from camaros and mustangs to civics that show pullies will increase power. Not so much by themselves, but when combined with other mods it can make a difference well worth the price.

 

awesome find but for gods sake dont let oldman see this post.

 

I've already read it, I've had my say. I build performance cars and know engines, I've already told you I let the performance of my car do the talking.

Bearing busting mickey mouse el cheapo power pulleys arn't on my ride. If I want to find 10x more inertial mass reduction, I'd buy a light weight flywheel which at least does not destroy the bearings of the engine. Simple toys for simple boys,

 

ya know i was merly joking, but you coming on here insulting people is getting old.

 

Ive read what you have to say oldman, but one thing you are forgetting is that these pulleys usually dont replace the engines harmonic balancer. they bolt directly to it replacing the heavy pulley that was there. If they actually replaced the harmonic balancer, I would agree with you...but from what Ive seen on pulleys ive used myself and seen on other cars, the harmonic balancer stays. In a lot of ways, this will make the harmonic balancer work more efficiently as it doesnt have to help balancing the heavy pulley itself.

 

i thought that Inline 4's are already balanced?

 

The tc runs a combination harmonic balancer and main crank pulley, I'm 98% sure that any "power pulley" made for the tC will replace this.

The harmonic balancer is not for reciprocating weight balance, it is deign to cancel crank based harmonics out, these harmonics destroy soft parts due to the ringing (propagation of sinusoidal harmonic waves) through the crank. Parts that fail in general are: crank driven oil pumps, main bearings, rod bearings, front timing chain, any gear attached to the crank. In specific to the tC this would include the ultra small timing chain and the plastic gear used to drive the counter rotating shafts in the crank case. Ringing is much more pronounced on larger, long stroke engines with a steel crank: read that as a tC.

I have a full post on the subject and it should be noted that pulley can easily void at least the engine warranty straight off and may void other warranties such as any electrical device, cooling device, or air conditioning device, or power steering….. near endless.

 

i'm waitin for unorthodox racing to release theirs

 

Then I agree with you 100%. My camaro pulley was a bolted onto the balancer...if the balancer is removed, then no deal for me.